BEDFORD – Bedford North Lawrence advanced to the IHSAA Unified track state finals during the regional competition on Saturday.
The Stars finished fifth in the 11-team field with 100 points. The top six teams qualified for the state meet at Indiana University on June 3. BNL advanced to the state level for the fifth consecutive year.
Bloomington North won the team title with 129 points, followed by Avon (109), Bloomington South (105) and Noblesville (104).
“This was an extremely tough regional meet,” BNL coach Mike Branam said. “It was a fight the whole way. We came out of the field events sitting in eighth place, but the kids dug deep and kept moving up the rankings.
“The kids were amazing. Getting that kind of performance from the entire team at this point in the season is amazing. We are definitely peaking at the right time.”
Winners for BNL included Asher Arce (30–4 in the shot put) and Gracelyn Arthur (20-6 in the shot put). Brax Huber set a new program record in the 400 (53.57) while finishing second to Bloomington North’s Russel Biloglavek (53.41).
“Our kids set a goal at the beginning of the season, and they have worked and persevered, and now they are one step closer to that goal.” Branam said. “Several of these kids are making their third trip to the state finals. I couldn’t be more proud of these kids. They really make coaching fun.”
BNL is the defending state champion.
